JP7494563B2 - Vehicle Surroundings Monitoring System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle surroundings monitoring system.

The following Patent Document 1 discloses a navigation system in which an aircraft equipped with a camera is mounted on a vehicle, and the aircraft is flown above the vehicle under the control of an on-board navigation device to capture images, and the system provides driving support for the vehicle based on the analysis of the captured images.

JP 2016-138853 A

When an occupant approaches a parked vehicle to begin driving, there is a possibility that the occupant may be attacked by a suspicious person such as a robber. Even if the occupant approaches the vehicle while being cautious and using their eyes to look, it is difficult for the occupant to visually spot the suspicious person if he or she is hiding in a blind spot of the vehicle or surrounding structures. Therefore, it is desirable to realize a means for the occupant to reliably check the safety of the area around the vehicle when approaching a parked vehicle.

However, the navigation system disclosed in the above Patent Document 1 does not consider using images captured by the camera of the flying object to check for safety when a passenger approaches a parked vehicle to begin driving. According to the navigation system disclosed in the above Patent Document 1, the user controls the flying object by operating the navigation device inside the vehicle, so the flying object cannot be flown before the user gets into the vehicle.

The present invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide a vehicle surroundings monitoring system that can utilize images captured by the camera unit of an aircraft to check for safety when a driver approaches a parked vehicle to begin driving.

A vehicle periphery monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an aircraft mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle, an approach detection unit that detects the approach of an occupant to the vehicle based on position information of the occupant, and a control unit that controls the aircraft, wherein when the approach detection unit detects the approach of the occupant to the vehicle, the control unit controls the aircraft to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and the images photographed by the photographing unit to be transmitted to a portable device having a display unit carried by the occupant , and further comprises an image analysis unit that detects suspicious persons present in the periphery of the vehicle by analyzing the images photographed by the photographing unit, and when the control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the portable device when the image analysis unit detects the suspicious person, the aircraft further comprises an alarm means for performing a predetermined alarm operation, and the control unit further controls the alarm means to execute an alarm operation against the suspicious person on the condition that the image analysis unit has detected the suspicious person .

According to this aspect, when the approach detection unit detects an occupant approaching the vehicle, the control unit controls the aircraft to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit photographs the area around the vehicle, and transmits the images photographed by the photographing unit to a mobile device carried by the occupant. Therefore, without the occupant having to manually input operations before getting in, an image of the area around the vehicle (a predetermined range, for example, a range of about a 5-10 meter radius from the vehicle) is automatically displayed on the display unit of the mobile device. As a result, it becomes possible to use the images photographed by the photographing unit of the aircraft to check for safety when an occupant approaches a parked vehicle to start driving.

According to this aspect , when the image analysis unit detects a suspicious person, the control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the mobile terminal, thereby making it possible to alert an occupant approaching the vehicle.

Furthermore, according to this aspect, when the image analysis unit detects a suspicious person, the warning means of the flying object executes a warning operation against the suspicious person, thereby making it possible to make the suspicious person retreat.

A vehicle periphery monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an aircraft mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle, an approach detection unit that detects the approach of an occupant to the vehicle based on position information of the occupant, and a control unit that controls the aircraft, wherein when the approach detection unit detects the approach of the occupant to the vehicle, the control unit controls the aircraft to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and the images photographed by the photographing unit to be transmitted to a portable device having a display unit carried by the occupant, and further comprises an image analysis unit that detects suspicious persons present in the periphery of the vehicle by analyzing the images photographed by the photographing unit, and when the control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the portable device when the image analysis unit detects the suspicious person, the aircraft further comprises an alarm means for performing a predetermined alarm operation, and the control unit further controls the alarm means to perform an alarm operation against the suspicious person, on the condition that an instruction to perform the alarm operation has been received from the portable device.

According to this aspect , when the approach detection unit detects the approach of a passenger to the vehicle, the control unit controls the flying object so that the flying object takes off from the vehicle, the photographing unit photographs the surroundings of the vehicle, and the image photographed by the photographing unit is transmitted to a mobile device carried by the passenger. Therefore, without the passenger having to manually input an operation before getting in, an image of the surroundings of the vehicle (a predetermined range set in advance, for example, a range of about a 5-10 meter radius from the vehicle) is automatically displayed on the display unit of the mobile device. As a result, it becomes possible to utilize the image photographed by the photographing unit of the flying object for safety confirmation when the passenger approaches a parked vehicle to start driving.
According to this aspect, when the image analysis unit detects a suspicious person, the control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the mobile terminal, thereby making it possible to alert an occupant approaching the vehicle.
Furthermore, according to this aspect, when an occupant inputs a command to execute an alarm operation from a portable terminal, the alarm means of the flying object executes an alarm operation against the suspicious person, thereby making it possible to make the suspicious person retreat.

In the above aspect, it is preferable that the vehicle further includes a flight path creation unit that creates a flight path such that areas that are blind spots in the field of vision of the occupant approaching the vehicle due to the vehicle or surrounding obstacles are included in the range of photography by the photography unit, and the control unit controls the flying object to fly along the flight path created by the flight path creation unit.

According to this aspect, the flight path creation unit creates a flight path that includes the blind spot from the occupant's field of vision, which occurs depending on the direction in which the occupant approaches the vehicle, within the range of photography by the photography unit. Therefore, the image analysis unit can reliably detect suspicious individuals hiding in blind spots.

In the above aspect, it is preferable that the flight path creation unit creates the flight path such that the underfloor area of the vehicle is further included in the range of photography by the photography unit.

According to this aspect, the flight path creation unit creates a flight path that includes the underfloor area of the vehicle within the range of the image capture unit. Therefore, the image analysis unit can reliably detect suspicious individuals hiding in the underfloor area of the vehicle.

In the above aspect, it is preferable that the control unit returns the aircraft to the vehicle when it detects that the occupant has boarded the vehicle.

According to this aspect, the control unit returns the aircraft to the vehicle when it detects that an occupant has boarded the vehicle. Therefore, since the aircraft can be returned to the ship before the vehicle starts to move, it is possible to prevent the aircraft from coming into contact with surrounding obstacles after the vehicle starts to move.

In the above aspect, it is preferable that the aircraft is connected to a cable and further includes a winding device for winding up the cable, and that the control unit causes the winding device to wind up the cable when returning the aircraft to the vehicle.

According to this aspect, when the aircraft is returned to the vehicle, the control unit causes the winding device to wind the cable. This makes it possible to quickly recover the aircraft.

According to the present invention, images captured by the camera unit of the aircraft can be used to check safety when an occupant approaches a parked vehicle to begin driving.

1 is a diagram showing an application example of a vehicle surroundings monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the flying object. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a vehicle. A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an aircraft control unit. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a prescribed path of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a prescribed path of an aircraft. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a vehicle information detection unit. 4 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the flying object by a control unit of the vehicle. A diagram showing a situation in which the camera unit of the flying object is photographing a suspicious person hiding in the shadow of a block wall.

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that elements with the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate the same or corresponding elements.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an application example of a vehicle surroundings monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flying object 2 capable of flying outside the vehicle 1 is mounted on the vehicle 1. A take-off and landing platform 3 for the flying object 2 is disposed at a predetermined location on the vehicle 1 (above the rear window in this example). The take-off and landing platform 3 has a horizontal take-off and landing surface for the flying object 2 to take off and land. A take-up reel 19 (not shown in Figure 1) is disposed below the take-off and landing surface. The take-up reel 19 has a rotating shaft (not shown) around which a tether 4, which is a power supply cable, is wound. A through hole is provided in approximately the center of the take-off and landing surface, and the tether 4 wound around the rotating shaft of the take-up reel 19 is inserted through this through hole, pulled out above the take-off and landing surface, and connected to the flying object 2.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the exterior of the flying object 2. The flying object 2 is configured as a so-called quadcopter-type drone. The flying object 2 includes a main body 111, a camera 112 arranged on the front surface of the main body 111, propellers 113 arranged at the four corners of the main body 111, a shaft 114 extending vertically from both the left and right sides of the main body 111, and a mesh-spherical buffer member 115 that encases the main body 111. The main body 111 and the buffer member 115 are fixed to each other by the shaft 114. A tether 4 is connected to the bottom surface of the main body 111.

3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the flying object 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the flying object 2 has a communication unit 21, a photographing unit 22, a driving unit 23, a position detection unit 24, an attitude detection unit 25, a lighting unit 26, and a speaker 27. The flying object 2 also has a control unit 20 that controls the operation of each of these processing units, thereby controlling the entire flying object 2. The flying object 2 also has a power supply unit 29 that supplies driving power to each of these processing units and the control unit 20. The power supply unit 29 is connected to the tether 4. By supplying the driving power of the flying object 2 from the vehicle 1 side via the tether 4, it is possible to omit the installation of a battery on the flying object 2, and as a result, the weight of the flying object 2 is reduced. The total weight of the flying object 2 is less than the limit weight (e.g., 200 grams) that is subject to flight regulations based on weight.

The communication unit 21 performs bidirectional data communication with a communication unit 122 on the vehicle 1 side (described later) using a short-range wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). However, by adding a data communication line within the tether 4, the communication unit 21 and the communication unit 122 may perform wired communication via the data communication line.

The image capturing unit 22 includes the camera 112 shown in FIG. 2. Images captured by the image capturing unit 22 include both still images (photographs) and moving images (video). In the following explanation, an example is taken in which video is captured by the image capturing unit 22. The image capturing unit 22 records video data of the video captured by the camera 112 in a recording medium such as a flash memory, and outputs the video data in real time. Note that the video data may be recorded on the vehicle 1 side.

The drive unit 23 includes a motor for rotating the propeller shaft of the propeller 113 shown in FIG. 2. The drive unit 23 controls the rotation direction and rotation speed of the four propellers 113 individually. This allows the flying object 2 to perform any flight operation, such as forward, backward, ascending, descending, turning, and hovering.

The position detection unit 24 includes a GPS receiver and an altitude sensor, and detects the position of the flying object 2 in real time and outputs position data indicating the detected position.

The attitude detection unit 25 includes an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, an orientation sensor, etc., and detects the attitude of the flying object 2 in real time, and outputs attitude data indicating the detected attitude.

The lighting unit 26 functions as an alarm means and includes any lighting device, such as an LED, arranged on one or more surfaces, including the front surface, of the main body 111 of the flying vehicle 2.

The speaker 27 functions as an alarm means and is located at a specified location on the main body 111 of the flying object 2. It can output a specified alarm message or alarm sound by playing pre-prepared audio data.

The control unit 20 transmits the video data output from the image capture unit 22, the position data output from the position detection unit 24, and the attitude data output from the attitude detection unit 25 from the communication unit 21 to the vehicle 1 in real time.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle 1. As shown in Figure 4, the vehicle 1 has a battery control unit 11, an aircraft control unit 12, an alarm control unit 13, a vehicle information detection unit 14, a communication unit 15, and an approach detection unit 51. The vehicle 1 also has a control unit 10 that controls the overall control of the vehicle 1 by controlling the operation of each of these processing units. The vehicle 1 also has a battery 18 that supplies driving power to each of these processing units and the control unit 10. The tether 4 is connected to the battery 18. The vehicle 1 also has a winding reel 19. Driving power for the winding reel 19 is supplied from the battery 18. The winding reel 19 has a rotating shaft (not shown) around which the tether 4 is wound, and a motor (not shown) for rotating the rotating shaft. The winding reel 19 controls the sending out and recovery of the tether 4 by driving the rotating shaft by the motor so that an appropriate amount of tether 4 according to the flight status of the aircraft 2 is paid out from the rotating shaft.

The battery control unit 11 controls the charging and discharging operations of the battery 18. The battery control unit 11 also controls the start and stop of the power supply from the battery 18 to the tether 4.

The aircraft control unit 12 controls the flight of the aircraft 2. Details of the aircraft control unit 12 will be described later.

The alarm control unit 13 includes a lighting controller that controls the turning on and off of the lighting devices (headlights, tail lights, room lights, hazard lights, etc.) of the vehicle 1. The alarm control unit 13 also includes a horn controller that controls the sounding of the horn of the vehicle 1.

The vehicle information detection unit 14 detects various information about the vehicle 1. Details of the vehicle information detection unit 14 will be described later.

The communication unit 15 performs bidirectional data communication with a preregistered user's mobile terminal 50 by any wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), wireless LAN, or public telephone line network. The mobile terminal 50 is a smartphone, mobile phone, tablet, notebook computer, smart key, or the like, and has a display unit (LCD or organic EL, etc.) and a position detection unit (GPS receiver, etc.). The display unit and the position detection unit may be implemented in separate terminals.

The approach detection unit 51 detects the approach of the user carrying the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 and the direction of the approach based on the position information of the vehicle 1 and the position information of the mobile terminal 50. The approach detection unit 51 acquires the position information of the vehicle 1 from the GPS receiver 148 (FIG. 8) of the vehicle information detection unit 14, and acquires the position information of the mobile terminal 50 from the mobile terminal 50 via the communication unit 15. The approach detection unit 51 detects the approach of the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 and the direction of the approach by observing the time-series change in the position of the mobile terminal 50 relative to the position of the vehicle 1. The approach detection unit 51 detects that the user carrying the mobile terminal 50 has approached the vehicle 1 when the distance between the vehicle 1 and the mobile terminal 50 becomes less than a predetermined value (e.g., 20 m).

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the aircraft control unit 12. As shown in Figure 5, the aircraft control unit 12 has a communication unit 122, a flight path creation unit 123, a control signal generation unit 124, a shooting signal generation unit 125, a reel control unit 126, an alarm signal generation unit 127, and a video analysis unit 128. The aircraft control unit 12 also has a control unit 121 that controls the operation of each of these processing units.

The communication unit 122 communicates data bidirectionally with the communication unit 21 of the flying object 2 described above by using a short-range wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The communication unit 122 receives video data, position data, and attitude data transmitted from the communication unit 21 of the flying object 2.

The control signal generation unit 124 generates control signals for flying the aircraft 2 along the flight path created by the flight path creation unit 123 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122.

The image capture signal generating unit 125 generates an image capture start signal to cause the image capture unit 22 of the aircraft 2 to start capturing images, and an image capture stop signal to cause the image capture unit 22 to stop capturing images, depending on the flight status of the aircraft 2.

The reel control unit 126 controls the take-up reel 19. Specifically, the reel control unit 126 controls the sending out and recovery of the tether 4 by driving the rotating shaft of the motor so that the appropriate amount of tether 4 according to the flight conditions of the aircraft 2 is paid out from the rotating shaft of the take-up reel 19.

The alarm signal generating unit 127 generates an alarm signal that causes the lighting unit 26 of the flying object 2 to emit a predetermined alarm light (e.g., continuous emission of a high-intensity flash light) and causes the speaker 27 of the flying object 2 to output a predetermined alarm sound (e.g., continuous output of a loud alarm or a shooting sound). However, the alarm operation may be either the illumination of the alarm light or the output of an alarm sound.

The video analysis unit 128 acquires the video of the vehicle surroundings captured by the image capture unit 22 of the flying object 2 via the communication unit 122. The video analysis unit 128 also acquires the approach direction of the user carrying the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 from the approach detection unit 51. The video analysis unit 128 analyzes the video of the vehicle surroundings captured immediately after the takeoff of the flying object 2 to identify blind spots from the user's field of vision that arise according to the user's approach direction to the vehicle 1. In other words, it identifies blind spots in the field of vision of a passenger approaching the vehicle 1 based on the vehicle 1 or surrounding obstacles. For example, the video analysis unit 128 identifies as blind spots areas areas that are in the shadow of the body of the vehicle 1 and areas in the shadow of a block wall, parked vehicle, or other obstacles around the vehicle 1 in the direction of the user's approach to the vehicle 1.

Furthermore, the video analysis unit 128 detects a suspicious person when the suspicious person is included in the video captured by the imaging unit 22 of the flying object 2. For example, the video analysis unit 128 identifies all people included in the captured video by pattern matching or the like, and detects a person who remains motionless for a certain period of time or more in the blind spot area identified above as a suspicious person. Note that the video analysis unit 128 is not limited to the above example, and can use any suspicious person detection algorithm. For example, the mental state of a person may be estimated based on the facial expression, and a person in an aggressive mental state may be detected as a suspicious person.

The flight path creation unit 123 creates a prescribed route as a flight path immediately after takeoff when acquiring images of the periphery of the vehicle (a predetermined range, for example, a range of about a radius of 5 to 10 meters centered on the vehicle 1) in order to identify the above-mentioned blind spot area. The prescribed route is, for example, a prescribed route (FIG. 6) in which the aircraft 2 flies in a circle above the vehicle 1, or a diagonal crossing route (FIG. 7) in which the aircraft 2 crosses the sky above the vehicle 1 while diagonally moving (which may involve a change in altitude) from the right rear to the left front of the vehicle 1. In addition, after the blind spot area is identified, the flight path creation unit 123 creates, for example, the shortest route for moving and flying the aircraft 2 to sequentially photograph all of the identified blind spot areas as a planned flight path. In addition, the flight path creation unit 123 may include, in the planned flight path, a route for moving and flying the aircraft 2 to photograph the underfloor area of the vehicle 1 (the area of the gap between the bottom surface of the floor panel and the ground).

The control unit 121 transmits the control signal generated by the control signal generation unit 124, the image capture start signal and image capture stop signal generated by the image capture signal generation unit 125, and the warning signal generated by the warning signal generation unit 127 from the communication unit 122 to the flying object 2 in real time.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the vehicle information detection unit 14. As shown in Figure 8, the vehicle information detection unit 14 includes a door lock sensor 141, a door open/close sensor 142, a seat sensor 143, a start detection sensor 144, an intrusion detection sensor 146, and a GPS receiver 148.

The door lock sensor 141 detects whether the doors of the vehicle 1 are locked or unlocked. The door open/close sensor 142 detects whether the doors of the vehicle 1 are open or closed. The seat sensor 143 detects whether a person is seated in the seat of the vehicle 1. The start detection sensor 144 detects whether the driving force generating device (engine or driving motor, etc.) of the vehicle 1 is started or stopped by an ignition sensor or by detecting the on/off state of a relay switch connecting the battery and the driving motor. The vehicle intrusion detection sensor 146 monitors the interior of the parked vehicle 1 and detects the presence or absence of an intruder within the monitoring area. The GPS receiver 148 identifies the current location of the vehicle 1 based on a GPS signal received from a GPS satellite and outputs location information indicating the current location.

9 is a flowchart showing the control flow of the flying object 2 by the control unit 10 of the vehicle 1. First, in step SP11, the control unit 10 judges whether the approach detection unit 51 detects that a user carrying a mobile terminal 50 has approached the parked vehicle 1. Specifically, the control unit 10 detects that the vehicle 1 is parked when the start detection sensor 144 detects that the driving force generating device of the vehicle 1 is in a stopped state, the vehicle intrusion detection sensor 146 detects that the vehicle 1 is unoccupied, and the door lock sensor 141 detects that all doors of the vehicle 1 are locked. When the vehicle 1 is parked, the approach detection unit 51 acquires the position information of the vehicle 1 from the GPS receiver 148 of the vehicle information detection unit 14, and acquires the position information of the mobile terminal 50 from the mobile terminal 50 via the communication unit 15. The approach detection unit 51 detects the approach of the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 and the approach direction by observing the time-series change in the position of the mobile terminal 50 relative to the position of the vehicle 1.

If the approach detection unit 51 does not detect the approach of the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 (step SP11: NO), the control unit 10 repeats the process of step SP11.

If the approach detection unit 51 detects the approach of the mobile terminal 50 to the vehicle 1 (step SP11: YES), then in step SP12, the control unit 10 causes the flying object control unit 12 to execute takeoff control of the flying object 2. Specifically, referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the battery control unit 11 first starts supplying power from the battery 18 to the flying object 2 via the tether 4. Next, the control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 along the flight path of the above-mentioned prescribed path created by the flight path creation unit 123. In addition, the image capture signal generation unit 125 generates an image capture start signal for causing the image capture unit 22 of the flying object 2 to start image capture. Next, the communication unit 122 transmits the control signal and the image capture start signal to the flying object 2. Next, the communication unit 21 on the flying object 2 side receives the control signal and the image capture start signal transmitted from the communication unit 122 on the vehicle 1 side. Next, the drive unit 23 starts control for flying the flying object 2 along the above-mentioned prescribed path by driving the propeller 113 based on the control signal. This causes the flying object 2 to take off from the take-off and landing pad 3. The photographing unit 22 also starts photographing with the camera 112, the position detection unit 24 starts detecting the position of the flying object 2, and the attitude detection unit 25 starts detecting the attitude of the flying object 2. The control unit 20 transmits the video data output from the photographing unit 22, the position data output from the position detection unit 24, and the attitude data output from the attitude detection unit 25 to the vehicle 1 in real time from the communication unit 21. The control unit 10 transfers the video data received from the flying object 2 to the communication unit 15, and the communication unit 15 transmits the video data to the mobile terminal 50. As a result, the video captured by the camera 112 is displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 50. Note that the video data output from the photographing unit 22 may be transmitted directly from the flying object 2 to the mobile terminal 50 without going through the vehicle 1 (same below).

Next, in step SP13, the control unit 10 causes the flying object control unit 12 to continue the flight control and shooting control of the flying object 2. The control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 along the above-mentioned specified path based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122 from the communication unit 21. As described above, the flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2. In addition, the control unit 121 transfers the video data received by the communication unit 122 from the communication unit 21 to the video analysis unit 128. The video analysis unit 128 identifies blind spots from the user's field of view that occur depending on the user's approach direction to the vehicle 1 by analyzing the video of the vehicle surroundings captured by the camera 112. Next, the flight path creation unit 123 creates the shortest path for moving and flying the flying object 2 to sequentially capture all of the identified blind spots as a planned flight path. Here, the flight path creation unit 123 may include a path for moving and flying the flying object 2 to capture the underfloor area of the vehicle 1 in the planned flight path. Next, the control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 along the planned flight path based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122 from the communication unit 21. As described above, the flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2. In addition, the control unit 10 transmits the video data received from the flying object 2 from the communication unit 15 to the mobile terminal 50. As a result, the video captured by the camera 112 is displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 50.

Figure 10 shows a situation in which the photographing unit 22 of the flying object 2 photographs a suspicious person 400 hiding behind a block wall 300. As a result, an image of the suspicious person 400 who is in a blind spot from the view of the occupant 200 is displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 50 carried by the occupant 200.

Next, in step SP14, the control unit 10 determines whether the video analysis unit 128 has detected a suspicious individual in the video captured by the camera 112.

If a suspicious person is detected (step SP14: YES), then in step SP15, the control unit 10 transmits suspicious person detection information indicating that a suspicious person has been detected in the vicinity of the vehicle 1 from the communication unit 15 to the mobile terminal 50. The control unit 10 also causes the alarm signal generation unit 127 to generate an alarm signal, and causes the control signal generation unit 124 to generate a control signal for directing the flying object 2 toward the suspicious person. The generated alarm signal and control signal are transmitted from the communication unit 122 to the flying object 2. As a result, the flying object 2 executes an alarm operation (illumination of alarm lighting and output of alarm sound) against the suspicious person while hovering in a position directly facing the suspicious person. Note that, when a suspicious person is detected, the control unit 10 may control the alarm control unit 13 in addition to the alarm signal generation unit 127 to execute an alarm operation using the lighting unit 26 and speaker 27 of the flying object 2 as well as the lighting device and horn of the vehicle 1. Furthermore, when a suspicious person is detected, the control unit 10 may not immediately execute an alarm operation, but may instead send a message from the communication unit 15 to the mobile device 50 inquiring about whether or not an alarm operation should be executed. In this case, the control unit 10 causes the flying object 2 (and the vehicle 1) to execute an alarm operation on the condition that the communication unit 15 receives an instruction to execute an alarm operation sent from the mobile device 50 by user operation input.

After starting the execution of the alarm operation, the control unit 10 executes the process of step SP14 again. If the suspicious person does not retreat even after the alarm operation, the video analysis unit 128 continues to detect the suspicious person, so the control unit 10 continues to execute the process of step SP15.

If the video analysis unit 128 does not detect a suspicious person (step SP14: NO), then in step SP16, the control unit 10 causes the flying object control unit 12 to execute return control of the flying object 2, as the flying object 2 has completed flying and photographing the planned flight path. The control signal generation unit 124 generates a control signal for flying the flying object 2 toward the landing pad 3 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122. As above, the flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2, and the flying object 2 returns to the landing pad 3. Next, the photographing signal generation unit 125 generates a photographing stop signal for the photographing unit 22 of the flying object 2 to stop photographing. The photographing stop signal is transmitted to the flying object 2, and the photographing unit 22 stops photographing with the camera 112. After that, the battery control unit 11 stops the supply of power from the battery 18 to the flying object 2.

According to the vehicle surroundings monitoring system of this embodiment, when the approach detection unit 51 detects the approach of an occupant to the vehicle 1, the control unit 10 controls the flying object 2 so that the flying object 2 takes off from the vehicle 1, the photographing unit 22 photographs the surroundings of the vehicle 1, and the image photographed by the photographing unit 22 is transmitted to the mobile terminal 50. Therefore, without the occupant manually inputting an operation before getting in, an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 1 (a predetermined range, for example, a range of about a 5-10 meter radius from the vehicle 1) is automatically displayed on the display unit of the mobile terminal 50. As a result, it becomes possible to utilize the image photographed by the photographing unit 22 of the flying object 2 to check the safety when the occupant approaches the parked vehicle 1 to start driving.

In addition, when a suspicious person is detected by the video analysis unit 128, the control unit 10 transmits suspicious person detection information to the mobile terminal 50. This makes it possible to alert the user approaching the vehicle 1.

Furthermore, the flight path creation unit 123 creates a flight path such that blind spots from the occupant's field of vision that arise depending on the direction in which the occupant approaches the vehicle 1 are included in the range of photography by the photography unit 22. Therefore, the video analysis unit 128 can reliably detect suspicious individuals hiding in blind spots.

Furthermore, the flight path creation unit 123 creates a flight path such that the underfloor area of the vehicle 1 is included in the range of photography by the photography unit 22. Therefore, the video analysis unit 128 can reliably detect suspicious individuals hiding in the underfloor area of the vehicle 1.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, the control unit 10 returns the flying object 2 to the vehicle 1 when the flight and photographing of the planned flight path by the flying object 2 are completed, but even before the photographing of the planned flight path is completed, if a return command for the flying object 2 is input by the user from the mobile terminal 50 and the communication unit 15 receives the return command, the control unit 10 may immediately return the flying object 2 to the vehicle 1. Specifically, when the communication unit 15 receives a return command from the mobile terminal 50, the control unit 10 causes the control signal generation unit 124 to generate a control signal for flying the flying object 2 from the current position toward the landing pad 3 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122. The flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2, and the flying object 2 returns to the landing pad 3.

In addition, the control unit 10 may immediately return the flying object 2 to the vehicle 1 when it detects that the user has boarded the vehicle 1 even before the planned flight path has been photographed. Specifically, the control unit 10 detects that the user has boarded the vehicle 1 when the door opening/closing sensor 142 detects that the driver's door of the vehicle 1 has been opened or closed, or when the seat sensor 143 detects that a person has sat in the driver's seat of the vehicle 1 after the opening/closing operation. In this case, the control unit 10 causes the control signal generation unit 124 to generate a control signal for flying the flying object 2 from the current position toward the landing pad 3 based on the video data, position data, and attitude data received by the communication unit 122. The flight of the flying object 2 is controlled by transmitting this control signal to the flying object 2, and the flying object 2 returns to the landing pad 3.

When the flying object 2 is to return to the ship before the shooting of the planned flight path is completed, the control unit 10 may forcibly retrieve the flying object 2 by causing the reel control unit 126 to rotate the rotation shaft of the take-up reel 19 at high speed, instead of causing the control signal generation unit 124 to generate a control signal for returning the flying object 2 to the ship. This allows the flying object 2 to be retrieved quickly.

According to this modified example, the aircraft 2 can be returned to the ship before the vehicle 1 starts moving, which makes it possible to prevent the aircraft 2 from coming into contact with nearby obstacles after the vehicle 1 starts moving.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle 2 flying object 4 tether 10 control unit 12 flying object control unit 14 vehicle information detection unit 16 display unit 17 operation input unit 19 take-up reel 22 imaging unit 26 lighting unit 27 speaker 50 portable terminal 51 approach detection unit 123 flight path creation unit 128 video analysis unit

Claims (6)

An aircraft mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle;
an approach detection unit that detects an approach of an occupant to the vehicle based on position information of the occupant getting into the vehicle;
A control unit for controlling the flying object;
Equipped with
the control unit controls, when the approach detection unit detects the approach of the occupant to the vehicle, the flying object to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and the image photographed by the photographing unit to be transmitted to a portable terminal having a display unit carried by the occupant ;
The vehicle further includes an image analysis unit that detects a suspicious person present in the vicinity of the vehicle by analyzing the image captured by the image capture unit,
The control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the mobile terminal when the image analysis unit detects the suspicious person,
The flying object further has an alarm means for performing a predetermined alarm operation,
The control unit further controls the warning means to execute a warning operation against the suspicious person on condition that the image analysis unit detects the suspicious person. An aircraft mounted on a vehicle, having a photographing unit, and capable of flying outside the vehicle;
an approach detection unit that detects an approach of an occupant to the vehicle based on position information of the occupant getting into the vehicle;
A control unit for controlling the flying object;
Equipped with
the control unit controls, when the approach detection unit detects the approach of the occupant to the vehicle, the flying object to take off from the vehicle, the photographing unit to photograph the periphery of the vehicle, and the image photographed by the photographing unit to be transmitted to a portable terminal having a display unit carried by the occupant;
The vehicle further includes an image analysis unit that detects a suspicious person present in the vicinity of the vehicle by analyzing the image captured by the image capture unit,
The control unit controls the image analysis unit to transmit suspicious person detection information to the mobile terminal when the image analysis unit detects the suspicious person,
The flying object further has an alarm means for performing a predetermined alarm operation,
The control unit further controls the warning means to execute a warning operation against the suspicious person on condition that a command to execute a warning operation is received from the mobile terminal. A flight path creation unit creates a flight path such that a blind spot in the field of vision of the occupant approaching the vehicle due to the vehicle or a surrounding obstacle is included in the range of photography by the photography unit,
The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the control unit controls the flying object to fly along the flight path created by the flight path creation unit. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 3 , wherein the flight path creation unit creates the flight path such that an underfloor area of the vehicle is further included in an imaging range of the imaging unit. The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit causes the flying object to return to the vehicle when it detects that the occupant has boarded the vehicle. the air vehicle is connected to a cable;
A winding device for winding the cable is further provided,
The vehicle periphery monitoring system according to claim 5 , wherein the control unit causes the winding device to wind up the cable when the flying object is returned to the vehicle.

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